51 Currently, carbon black is being used in many inks and dyes in the textiles industry. Carbon black is made from petroleum, which has a large carbon footprint. Carbon black is also on Prop 65 [a list of toxic chemicals] in California as potentially cancer causing. Living Ink makes a carbon black replacement that is carbon negative, safe, renewable and uses waste material. For every 1 kg of black pigment used, there is 4.16kg of carbon dioxide equivalent removed from the atmosphere. Thus, the process sequesters more carbon dioxide than it creates during the process. We work with an algae farm in California that has been growing algae for many decades. They recycle their water, use renewable energy and harvest the algae every day due to the speed of growth. They extract their products of interest – for example, a blue colorant for their natural colour business. There is a by-product stream produced of waste algal biomass. Living Ink then uses this material as the starting material for our process. We have ink that is 86 per cent bio-based materials. This includes algae pigment, linseed, soya oil and other biobased components. We are constantly talking to suppliers about getting more bio-based materials. The next goal is to do full LCA [life cycle assessment] on ink – not just pigment- creating 100 per cent biobased inks that perform the same as traditional inks. The two missions at Living Ink are: firstly, to transition all materials away from fossil fuels, and secondly, to create and scale carbon negative materials to have impact. Currently we work with a partner in one of the process steps. The remainder of the steps are completed internally at Living Ink. We have scaled all the steps to a point where we can make 600kg of ink per day with the capability to print 100,000 T-shirts (6g per shirt). We are focused on black right now – scaling it and integrating it into global supply chains. We have developed other colours of algae such as red, brown, green and purple. However, there is more work to do in improving scalability and performance. There might be a few brand launches of green in the coming year though! Developing a carbon negative material is extremely difficult. I am proud that we have found a way to put together a supply chain that functions well and has a carbon negative result of the pigment. We have developed a model tracking the volumes we hope to create in the future. The goal is to scale this up so we can make a massive amount of material and continue to lower price points. This will allow Living Ink to enter the mainstream ink and pigment markets. We plan to bring in new suppliers and continue to optimise the process steps to refine products and LCA. Lastly, we would love to continue to develop new sustainable technologies, including colours. Why is Living Ink a potential replacement for conventional dyes? What percentage of your ink is biobased vs. petrochemicals? What colours does Living Ink produce and how would you scale it up? What are you most proud of achieving in this field? What do you hope to achieve over the next decade? What are the benefits of using algae ink? And how do you source your algae biomass? livingink.co
52 Photography: Courtesy of Earthrise Nutritionals
53
54 oWA DS A REG NE TIVE TE TILE ND FASHIoN SYSTE iewpoints from Changemakers in the extile ector
55 In this section, we share a range of perspectives from voices leading change. The interviews are intended to serve as an inspirational starting point for designers beginning their journey towards a regenerative fashion system. Here, we share some of the key ideas and developments in the field of regenerative practice. What are the benefits of regenerative agriculture versus conventional textile farming? Why does restoring soils take centre stage when it comes to climate action? How can we actively connect farmers to designers? Why is the preservation of our genetic biodiverse heritage so important and how do we design with multispecies in mind? And what colour systems offer alternatives to oil-based synthetic dyes? We would like to thank all the expert contributors for their support and time as well as our editors, writers and photographers.
56 EGENERa IVE AGRICULTURE: GRO ING A BETT R FUTURE How regenerative farming offers a real alternative for a nature-positive fashion system with its fundamental rethink and reset of how we treat the land and its farmers. Article by Sameerah Balogun
57 All the main natural raw materials used by the fashion industry come from the land. Cotton and linen are derived from plants, while wool, cashmere, exotic fibres like alpaca and leather are provided by animals. Silk is obtained from the larval form of the silk moth. Cellulosics such as viscose are derived from wood pulp. Although leather is generally regarded as a by-product of the meat industry, the other fibres are grown specifically to feed the textile and fashion supply chain. The industry has a grave responsibility to improve its performance in many types of farming to reduce its environmental impact, help alleviate the climate change crisis and improve the life of many millions of workers who toil on the land.1 Historically, farmers were seen as being close to nature, understanding the importance of biodiversity and not over-cultivating their land. Conventional farming now, unfortunately, is more likely to involve intensive farming methods for short-term gain of high yields – an approach that came to dominate farming in the second half of the 20th century. It involves excessive use of toxic pesticides and fertilisers, overgrazing and monocultural farming, massive use of water resources and poor conditions for its workforce.2 Too often, biodiversity all but disappears, while direct and indirect pollution endangers all species, including humans, and adds to the global carbon footprint.3 Common Ground, a 2020 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), outlines how, in many parts of the world, intensification and expansion of agriculture have degraded soils and ecosystems, depleted water sources and reduced
58 biodiversity. “As a result, farmers often have no choice but to search for new land to work, or to use soil as a substrate with massive synthetic inputs,” says the report.4 At its worst, intensive conventional farming is a cause of social and environmental misery. Organic farming is viewed as a better option, typically using ‘natural’ methods to grow crops and raise livestock.5 It has a long history. The Bristol-based Soil Association, for example, has been campaigning against intensive farming and the over-use of pesticides since 1946.6 Effectively, intensive farming, whether for food or textile production, has a degenerative “IF YOU DoN’T ACKNOWL DGE SOCIaL INEQUITY... YOU ARE ISSING THE WHO E CONVERsATION O REGEN RATIVE AGRICULTURE.” Fundamentally, the difference between conventional and organic textile agriculture is that the latter does not use GMO crops and does not rely on synthetic pesticides and fertilisers. It is concerned with replenishing soil health and biodiversity.9 For all its benefits, however, organic farming is regarded as requiring more financial resources and labour than conventional production of natural fibres.10 Rebecca Burgess impact on climate, biodiversity and human health. The quality of organic farming is monitored by a number of certification programmes, including the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Organic Content Standard (OCS), which the Soil Association uses to confirm products are “organic”.7 In countries as far apart as India, Türkiye, China and the USA, organic fibre production – especially for cotton – requires the withdrawal of synthetic fertilisers in favour of natural alternatives. Pesticides are replaced with beneficial insects, which are natural enemies of the pests that are harmful to plants (or animals) during the growing season.8 The economic issues relating to organic farming – more time, more labour, lower yields – have meant the shift towards eco-friendlier and more benign practices has been rather slow. The fashion industry needs to build relevant support systems to help farmers transition to organic growing. But there is now a third farming option – regenerative agriculture – which goes beyond and above organic principles and is rapidly gaining interest as the ultimate nature-
59 positive agricultural model. Championed initially by the food industry, it is now picking up traction in the fashion sector. Aiming to reverse the effects of industrial conventional farming, regenerative agriculture adopts holistic farming and integrated livestock grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring biodiversity in the soil, resulting in carbon drawdown and improvements in the water cycle. Practices used to improve soil health may include organic techniques such as not using toxic pesticides and herbicides, but they also seek to understand nature’s own way of restoring balance in the local ecosystem to make decisions that work in harmony with it. This includes, for example, the introduction of livestock to complement the cycle.11 Aras Baskauskas, CEO of Los Angeles-based womenswear label Christy Dawn – its motto is “Honoring Mother Earth” – has said: “What are we trying to sustain? The fires, the tornadoes, the mass extinction? We don’t need to be sustainable, we need to be regenerative.”12 Regenerative agriculture aims to rethink and transform our current extractive, growth-driven and unjust textile supply chain systems. Its intention is to improve overall soil health, replenish biodiversity, improve the availability and quality of water, increase yields, as well as promote animal welfare and the resilience and empowerment of local communities. While there is no agreed international certification for regenerative agriculture yet, it is now acknowledged as the premium approach – a form of agriculture that can help us reverse the socio-ecological damage of intensive farming and combat climate change. It is critical for designers to work closely with farmers and suppliers of organic and regenerative textiles to support the transition.13 Söktaş, for example, is currently collaborating with Stella McCartney and its cotton was showcased in the COP 26 exhibition, Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney (November 2021). The company is also working with a soil scientist to evidence how regenerative farming can rebuild living soils and trap carbon.14 The holistic approach of regenerative agriculture goes further than organic farming in terms of confronting social injustices and intersectionality – the term for overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination
60 or disadvantage. “If you don’t acknowledge stolen land, if you don’t acknowledge social inequity, if you don’t acknowledge systemic racism, then you are missing the whole conversation of regenerative agriculture,” says Rebecca Burgess, founder of California-based Fibershed, a not-forprofit organisation committed to “developing regional fibre systems that build soil and protect the health of our biosphere”.15 Since European powers began building global empires from the late 1400s onwards, indigenous people have suffered at the hands of foreigners taking their lands and depriving them of their rights. The problems persist today. “As indigenous peoples, we experience firsthand the environmental degradation and impacts climate change has on our plants, animals and other nonliving things that are an integral part of our ecosystems,” says indigenous environmental scientist Dr. Jessica Hernandez, who is of Mayan heritage and is based in the Pacific north-west of the USA. The textile and fashion industry has been as guilty as any sector of eco-colonialism. Predominantly white corporations’ practices of governing indigenous land and its assets without respecting indigenous sovereignty are now being challenged. Instead, the emphasis is shifting to involving communities in decision-making or offering them resources.16 Western environmentalism and its ideologies have tended to overthrow local sustainable traditions and exchange them with harmful ones. Regenerative agriculture can be seen as a return to longstanding traditional practices, which are being rediscovered by large Western multinationals.17 Part of the holistic approach involves including farmers on a decisionmaking level from the beginning of a project, committing to the building of longstanding relationships and the development of new supply chains. Several companies, small and large, have now made it their mission to help navigate a transition to regenerative agriculture. The Textile Exchange, a leading global non-profit organisation, has recently published a very detailed analysis of the emerging regenerative textile landscape. It puts forward a powerful message for the fashion sector to proactively support radical and much needed shifts towards a regenerative textile system.18 The Savory Institute has at its core the regeneration of the world’s grasslands and the restoration of biodiversity through holistic management. While focusing on regenerative sourcing solutions for raw materials, including leather and wool, the Institute supports other “WE DON’T NEED TO BE SUSTaINABLE, WE NEED TO BE REGENERATIVE.” Aras Baskauskas
61 companies in reducing their global impact on land and species through sharing knowledge on holistic management via online courses, as well as providing an extensive resource library.19 (see also interview with Sheila Cooke) Founded in England in 1999, Earthworm Foundation is an internationally active non-profit organisation that is focused on the transformation of traditional supply chains into regenerative ones. It aims to improve the relationship of people and planet and so create incremental value for society at large. Through its membership scheme, Earthworm guides brands and retailers on ongoing journeys of transformation.20 (see also interview with Bastien Sachet/Earthworm Foundation) Putting such ideas into fashion reality is Nishanth Chopra, who in 2016 founded the Oshadi Collective as a womenswear label in India. He is now cultivating a new fashion system by bringing traditional Indian agricultural practices and the artisan heritage of the country to the forefront. Operating under the slogan, “Cultivating a regenerative fashion system from the soil up”, Oshadi works with a network of local farmers and artisans, who are focused on giving back more to the earth than they take, ensuring their production is sustainable and fair.21 Transforming conventional farming practices into regenerative ones has more benefits than just getting us a step closer into reaching the 1.5° goal. Transforming agricultural practices via a holistic approach brings us closer to replenishing our ecosystems while inducing the systemic change needed to achieve social equity.
62 Photography: Camille Lemoine
63
64 DESIGNER PE SP CTIVES: THE NU NCES OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULtURE Textile Exchange, a global non-profit campaigning to advance the use of sustainable fibres and materials, is supporting regenerative agriculture. Beth Jensen, director of its holistic Climate+ strategy, discusses the indigenous roots of regenerative farming and how designers can respond. Interview with Beth Jensen by Hitanshi Kamdar
65 The first thing I would talk about is how we think about regenerative design. A general way to think about it is making apparel in ways that support circularity concepts that are going to leave the planet and its people better than we found it. There’s a great diagram that defines regenerative as going beyond sustaining. As an industry, we have to move away from having this idea of “tell me the checklist of things to do, and I’ll do it”. We have to be more nuanced and educate ourselves about the different context-specific considerations and trade-offs that are involved in everything. From a designer perspective, it’s thinking about how you might use regenerative materials in your product. There’s all this material out in the world – how do we make sure that it stays in circulation? Leather, cottons, animal fibres are all great candidates for regenerative agriculture or regenerative grazing practices. Depending on if it’s a designer who’s doing it all or working in conjunction with a sourcing team, it’s about what your supply chain looks like. Are there suppliers who might be interested in building a more regenerative approach that the designers can partner with? Companies need to build those relationships with their farmers and growers as well. How do you advise designers who want to transition to a regenerative design approach?
66 Why does a holistic approach to regenerative design matter? What do you hope to achieve over the next decade? It’s important that we, as a sector, don’t ever delude ourselves into thinking this is some sort of new brand new concept. These concepts may feel new and exciting to a lot of companies in the apparel and food sectors right now. However, these are not new practices to Native people. Just consider the example of America: Native people had their land stolen by white settlers who put extractive agricultural practices in place. And we’re now trying to reverse the negative impacts of those practices. It’s about recognising the historical patterns of primarily western appropriation of Native cultures and learning from Native understanding of how to do things in tune with nature and the environment in ways that we’re able to be sustained and regenerate the earth. This is about going back to the way things used to be done. How can we do that in a way that’s fit for today while taking the lessons and wisdom of those cultures. Why should we acknowledge the indigenous roots of regenerative agriculture? “TH RE'S LL THIS M aTERIAL OUT IN THE WoRLD – HO W DO WE mAKE SURE TH aT IT STAYS IN CIRCU ATION?” Beth Jensen There’s this great diagram that references the concept of carbon tunnel vision. The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our times and we need to reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions drastically. But what ends up happening is that companies focus solely on that, not necessarily taking into account other impact areas like biodiversity, soil health, deforestation, water pollution, social labour impacts, community impacts and animal welfare impacts. If you only try to optimise GHG emissions, you can often see unintended consequences in other areas if you're not actively bringing them into the discussion. For example, say you convert a bunch of land to being farmed regeneratively – that is a great idea in principle. But if you are cutting down a bunch of forests to do that, it’s going to have consequences in other areas. We’ve set a goal for the industry of 45 per cent reduced GHG emissions related to the production of fibres and materials at the farm or ranch level. But we also need to create beneficial impacts in other areas, so we have a strategy called Climate+. This recognises that we can’t ignore other interdependent impact areas. We’ve also done extensive greenhouse gas impact reduction modelling which includes three levers – materials substitution, regenerative agriculture and degrowth. Additionally, the United Nations fashion industry charter for climate change, which we actively support, has the goal that by 2030 all main materials used by the apparel industry will be considered preferred and low-climate impact, which would either be clothes that are closed-loop recycled or use natural materials regeneratively produced. 66
67 textileexchange.org 67
68 WHY SOIL TT RS oil (and worms) are in the spotlight right now thanks to the work of the arthworm oundation, a non-profit organisation that focuses on the restoration of soil health – which is vital for biodiversity and the climate as well as for fashion and textiles. astien achet, CEO, explains more. Interview with Bastien Sachet by Pablo Roa 68 Photography: Raajadharshini
69 It started when I worked as an agronomist. I was sent to Cornwall, England, to sell fertilisers to British farmers. All their soils had gone acidic. They had lost the clover that grows in pastures. Cows were sick because their stomachs were acidic from not having a balanced diet. I met some farmers who were putting in calcium carbonate to regulate this. When they do that, clover grows back. Clover stores nitrogen from the atmosphere, so it does the job of the fertiliser. I told farmers to look after the acidity in their soil – they would save money, and their cows and pasture would be healthier. When I joined Earthworm, we developed a model that allows companies to protect and regenerate forests. We realised that to regenerate, you need to work with farmers. Farmers were in a vicious cycle, using more nitrogen, which is a very acidic fertiliser – [they were] thinking that it would boost production. But by doing that they were increasing their costs and making a monoculture pasture. Regenerating soils is about letting nature do things by itself – trying to look at what is off-balance compared to what the natural environment should be, and to act and pilot it so that nature can function at its maximum potential. There are three key ecosystems – oceans, forests and soils – in which most of the biodiversity, most of the carbon, is stored alive. By protecting these ecosystems, you have the biggest impact you can have on biodiversity and climate. Most of what we consume comes from soil. Cottons you wear, food you’ve eaten today, all of it comes from soil. So if you act on the root cause, which is the origin of food, of how climate and water cycles are balanced, how biodiversity is created, you have a good chance to address many of the subsequent problems. It is necessary because we don't have time. Pesticides only attack the problem’s symptoms. How did you become interested in the idea of regenerating our soils? Why is the restoration of soil health so important? What can be done to rebuild soil health? All we need to restore soil is to do more photosynthesis – produce more vegetable matter on soils and let them degrade. Because most of what we produce, we harvest and take away. We leave nothing. We plough and destroy the soil. To reverse this process and to regenerate, we need to grow crops and vegetables that we leave decaying and decomposing on the soil to feed all the bugs that are hungry. As these bugs develop, they produce all sorts of molecules that will eventually make that soil richer in organic matter. To regenerate soils, you need to grow more vegetation, more photosynthesis that you let decompose. And as you do this, organic matter in the soil will increase. As it increases, soil regenerates. “ ESIGN RS ARE THoUGHT EaD RS – THEY CAN sAY THINGS AND CARRY MUCH ORE THAN A DESIGN. THEY CARRY A SPIRIT.” Bastien Sachet 69
70 The challenge for a brand in fashion is two-fold. Knowing who is making your fibre and where it was produced is a key thing. And then what to ask to those who are producing, and how to deploy enough leverage to get them to transform their practice. Today, brands are disconnected from where their fibres are produced. It comes from a long chain of processing that puts the farmer far away. So the first thing is to reconnect with the farmer. Maybe you will discover that you're connected to farmers in India or Peru and that they are producing your cotton. Many farmers don't have a clue how their cotton or their viscose is used. Suddenly, you make that reconnection. Once that channel is established, you can go to step two. What can we change together? The second step is to assess the leverage that you have as a brand. If you don't have enough, you group with brands or partner up with the supplier and ask what can be done. And there is a necessary reinvestment into how we help farmers transition. Farmers who transition create savings – it becomes more profitable to farm in a regenerative way. But there is a three to five year transition period, which is risky, because they have to learn new things. Brands have the possibility to mobilise money, funds to help pay for experts, and folks who can support the farmers’ transition. The first thing designers should do is reconnect with nature. The fashion industry can be very urban. And although there is a sense that sustainability is key, the reconnection to something that is not very fancy is hard. A farmer is far away. It's far away from the codes promoted in the brand. If designers are aware of what their decisions will be, they will think about conceiving in a different way. Designers are thought leaders – they can say things and carry much more than a design. They carry a spirit, they propose something to society. I believe they need to be aware of these ecosystems. If they do this, they will create and inject some of that into their designs. Just reconnect with nature, reconnect with how the products you design are made. And then you will think about it when you create. What can designers specifically do to help? How can brands help farmers transition to more regenerative practices? Earthworm.org
71 Photography: Maison/0
72 Photography: Raajadharshini
73
74 LVMH: TH TRaNSITIoN TO REGENERATIVE LUXU Y Luxury giant LVMH is working hard to become more regenerative across all its Maisons, launching Life 360, an ambitious sustainability plan, in 2021. Alexandre Capelli, Environmental Deputy Director, discusses driving a shift in mindset across LVMH brands and offers advice for designers ready to make the change. Interview with Alexandre Capelli by Lara Grobosch
75 The environmental direction of LVMH has existed for almost 30 years now, so it's not a new commitment. We had a first programme called Life 2020. Now we have Life 360. [It’s called] 360 because we have set three key deadlines – 2023, 2026 and 2030 – and we are convinced that we need this holistic vision of sustainability. It’s a programme based upon four main pillars: creative circularity, traceability/ transparency, climate and biodiversity. Creative circularity is mainly about eco-design of products, accelerating the implementation of new circular services like renting, upcycling and second-hand. Traceability means being able to trace all our raw materials back to the field and mine. Transparency is about sharing the environmental footprint with consumers at the product level. For climate we have a commitment on scope 1 and 2, reducing carbon dioxide emissions at our stores, offices and manufacturers. We also have a target on scope 3, the rest of the value chain: raw material production and transport. For biodiversity, we have set an objective to restore five million hectares of habitat for flora and fauna by 2030. We believe that, as part of civil society, we need to work on our supply chain, but we also need to help global efforts outside the supply chain. How is LVMH accelerating the transition to regenerative supply chains in fashion? How do you incorporate regenerative practices on a larger scale into all the LVMH Maisons? How do you deal with the challenge of cultivating a shift in mindset across all LVMH brands so that all teams work towards the same goals? Whether it’s a large, medium or small company, it’s a challenge because moving to regenerative practices is about rethinking and redesigning the whole concept of producing raw materials and designing products. We take it step by step by defining first what this means concretely in the field. I don't think we will have one single solution for all raw materials – it will be for cotton in Türkiye, cotton in India, cotton in Africa, each time defining what regenerative means for different parts of the world, and for this commodity. All we need to restore soil is to do more photosynthesis – produce more vegetable matter on soils and let them degrade. Because most of what we produce, we harvest and take away. We leave nothing. We plough and destroy the soil. It's a journey and it’s a lot of training. We have training sessions to explain to our teams internally – buyers, designers, developers – what transitioning means for them. I think in 2022, everyone understands that the biodiversity and the climate crisis are here. It's just a matter of explaining “T Y TO SK YoURSELF WHERE IT COMES FROM AND HO IT WaS MA E.” Alexandre Capelli
76 and defining the criteria and we work with experts from the Earthworm Foundation, the Savory Institute and reNature. We are working on cotton in Türkiye, for example, with a company called Söktaş. We cooperate with local NGOs and farmers on the ground to implement regenerative agriculture. We are also working with a French supplier called Chargeurss, which has a programme dedicated to regenerative wool called Nativa. We are partnering to accelerate this programme in Uruguay, but now we are also looking at Australia, because it's the main country for merino wool. In addition, we are collaborating with a South African organisation called BKB that produces mohair. For LVMH, Maison/0 is our laboratory to think outside the box. We have the ambition to move to regenerative luxury, and we are convinced that this is not only about agriculture, but also about design. Through Maison/0 and Central Saint Martins, we are collaborating with students, academics and our own brands to explore what this means and find concrete practices to move to regenerative design. In less than two years since the beginning of the LIFE 360 programme, we have been able to launch a regenerative agriculture programme in all our areas of activity – perfumes, fashion, and wine and spirits. This is the biggest success for me. We stopped using herbicides in all our vineyards and we got a picture of our vineyard in Champagne two months ago, and for the very first time there was grass everywhere. A few years ago, you only had bare soil. I'm very proud of this picture, because it's a concrete illustration showing that we can move and that it can happen quickly. We are not perfect, but at least we have started in all sectors. If we are able to have a healthy ecosystem and happy farmers in our main countries of sourcing for wool, cotton and leather, I will be very proud. When I see the vineyard covered with grass, it gives me hope. I would be proud if we could see such a picture for all our raw materials everywhere in the world. Another great success will be if, together with Maison/0, What are you most proud of achieving with LVMH so far in relation to regenerative luxury? What do you hope to achieve with LVMH over the next decade? For LVMH, what is the significance of Maison/0, the platform you have developed with Central Saint Martins? “FoR LVMH, MAISON/0 IS OUR ABORaTORY TO THINK OUTSI E THE BO .” Alexandre Capelli Who are your key collaborators?
77 What would you advise designers to do to incorporate regenerative practices within their brand? we manage to convince designers to adopt regenerative practices and make them understand what transitioning means for them. By 2030, we want all new LVMH products to result from eco-design. We have defined eco-design criteria for all our divisions and now we are working on implementing IT tools to monitor and track them. Be open-minded, think outside the box, look for innovations and new materials and challenge yourself. I know that most designers are looking for quality and colours, but also try to ask yourself where it comes from and how it was made. Try to become a bit more of an engineer. Lvmh.com Photography: Hung-Jui Tsao
78 IB ESHED: EST UCTURING TH FaSHIoN IN UST Y Fibreshed is a global grassroots organisation that develops regenerative regional fibre systems. Local communities around the world identify their own priorities within the framework of core values: labour, dyes and fibres all sourced locally, and soil to soil textiles. Deborah Barker of the Southeast England branch explains how they are reimagining the structure of the fashion industry. Interview with Deborah Barker by Alice Lindsell 78
79 As it’s a grassroots organisation, although I can tell you about Fibreshed UK I can't speak for it. The way we operate is that we’re all independent. We promote scaling through replicability, and not scalability. The fashion industry is obsessed with scalability, which amazes me, given the problems with global supply chains. As soon as they’re disrupted, they collapse. What Fibreshed is developing is a network that’s the same as nature – the biodiversity in nature is what we’re seeking to replicate. Our priority at Southeast England Fibreshed, because of our proximity to London, is focusing on connecting farmers and designers, the rural and the urban. There are lots of organisations doing brilliant work that are raising awareness of the environmental and social injustices caused by the global fashion industry, and the problems of having large, industrialised, global supply chains. But there aren’t many organisations that offer a new paradigm and can model that. I think Fibreshed's strength is that it can do that – it’s demonstrating what that new paradigm could look like. Fibreshed offers a way of producing clothing and textiles in a localised regional system that can sequester carbon, reduce the use of fossil fuels, support biodiversity, and is resilient to extreme weather. It can create meaningful and fairly paid livelihoods for people throughout the supply network. Everybody who’s involved in creating the fabrics, clothing, Explain how Fibreshed UK operates. Why is it important to connect designers with farmers?
80 and textiles has an equal stake in that system. By working within our bioregion and regional boundaries, we can better understand the planetary boundaries that we’re working within. We see first-hand the impact that we can have. I’m in the process of setting up a project mapping regenerative fibre farmers in Southeast England to understand the volume of wool being produced through regenerative farming and the wool quality. From that knowledge base we’ll facilitate partnerships between designers and farmers to show what's possible to create – building on the work we did with the Phoebe English studio in 2021. Related to this we are about to start work with South West England Fibreshed to produce resources for farmers to help them to improve the value of their wool clip and to support designers and farmers to work together. I am also working with South West Fibreshed on a podcast for Farmerarama Radio that will be launched in the autumn. Alongside this work is an ongoing project to understand the barriers to growing natural dye plants in the Southeast. Looking forward to 2023 we are working with Arizona Muse, the British-American model, on developing a project to increase the production of biodynamically farmed wool through her charity, Dirt. And the Berlin based Lissome Magazine has funded a series of on-farm events for BA and post graduate fashion students to understand the connection between fashion and farming. In the North West, a project titled Homespun/Homegrown is creating homespun, homegrown blue denim made from flax. Then there’s a flax growing project in Wales, and in the North West they’re growing woad and flax. Emma Jane Hague, director of the South West Fibreshed – the longest established – created a film last year called Reconnecting Fashion with Farming and she’s just established a bursary fund to support local Fibershed members to develop projects. There is also a Fibreshed that has been just set up in Ireland and two in the process of being established, one in Scotland and another in the Midlands. I think opening a dialogue and exploration, as well as facilitating an understanding between farmers and designers. When we launched Fibreshed in London I invited farmers and designers to come. My favourite comment from the evening was from a designer: “When I looked around this room you couldn't tell who’s a farmer and who's a designer.” A lot of designers have admitted to being scared of farmers because there is quite a big cultural divide in many ways. But bring them together and they’re both passionate about fibres, the planet and doing better. Also, the project that we did with Phoebe English last year. We looked at how we could create the most regenerative garment possible within the resources of the Southeast England Fibreshed. It was shown at the British Library as an exhibition as part of London Fashion Week. I’d love a diverse and resilient network of producers, growers, makers and consumers – though I feel we should have another word for consumers. What is foreseen with Fibreshed, when it’s working, is people who are wearing clothes being actively involved in that process – part of it is to have that transparency. So it’s about growing a regional resilient network to produce bioregional clothing within an equitable and socially just system. southeastenglandfibreshed.org/ What projects are being developed in the UK? What are you most proud of achieving in this field? What are you hoping to achieve over the next decade?
81 “ HEN I OOKED A OUND THE ROOm, YOU COUL N'T TELL HO'S A FARMER AND WHo'S A DESIGNER.” Deborah Barker Photography courtesy: Walter Bailey
82 GENETIC BIoDIVERSITY: TH O E oF HE ESIGNER Genetic biodiversity, or ecological variety, is a crucial factor in determining the long-term survival of plant and animal species on troubled Earth. Designers have a part to play in a big reassessment. Article By Kiera McMillan and Pia Benthien
83 New thinking – or the readoption of old thinking – is desperately needed by the textile and fashion industry as species are going extinct at an unprecedented rate.1 Our non-stop attempts to shape and mould the planet to our liking, even down to something as banal as ridding supermarkets of “wonky” vegetables, has created massive environmental problems. A lack of diversity is likely to make crops and animals genetically weak, rendering them less able to stave off infections or survive changing weather conditions.2 Design has a role to play in resolving this crisis. It’s an essential part of the process of reinvention that is needed to create a more sustainable society.3 Genetic biodiversity must be at the heart of this process. Supporting biodiversity through design is just one element of holistic regenerative agriculture, which opposes the current growth logic economic model of the apparel industry by prioritising the acknowledgment of indigenous practices and ecosystems, recognising the fight against climate change to be intersectional and interspecies dependent. Supporting and learning from indigenous communities are crucial for any designer striving to meet emerging industry guidance regarding conscious design practice (such as the COP 21 Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity). While Indigenous Peoples make up only 6.2 per cent of the global population, they are the stewards of 80 per cent of the remaining biodiversity, according to a Textile Exchange report published this year.4
84 Innovative designers, non-profit organisations and various companies are pioneering the movement toward degrowth within the fashion industry and beyond, with biodiversity central to conscious textile production. An early pioneer is Sally Fox, a cotton breeder based in California who helped rediscover the value of endemic species of naturally coloured cotton. While most of us think of the cotton plant as producing white fibres, in fact there are different varieties of cotton – and some were used by ancient civilisations because of their brown or green coloured fibres. Since the late 1980s, Fox has been developing an organic cotton called FoxFibre in various shades of brown and green to adapt these early species to industrial use. Although other farmers have also developed naturally coloured cotton, Fox’s cotton was the first that could be spun into thread on an industrial machine. She utilises a unique cross-pollination technique that encourages biodiversity. As she has put it, “The seeds that develop in these cotton balls will be hybrid seeds, and the beginning of a lot of potential, new variability.”5 It can take Fox about 10 years of crossbreeding before a new shade of cotton is ready to be sold on the commercial market. This biodiversity pioneer has expanded from cotton to add a flock of 140 merino sheep and almost 30 acres of Sonora wheat fields to her farm.6 The sheep eat and predigest the invasive weeds that grow in Fox’s crop fields, making them more palatable to soil microbes. This reduces the need to risk damaging the soil by tilling it with a tractor and plough. Fox describes the merinos as “such an integral part of this farm’s life. Plus, of course, they produce super-fine and colourful wool”. Sonora wheat is a soft, white winter wheat that is believed to have been introduced into the Sonoran Desert region of modern-day California and Arizona by Spanish missionaries in the mid-17th century. Sonora plants have extra-long roots that aid carbon sequestering – an important regenerative practice that every aspect of Fox’s farm is designed to encourage.7 In a similar approach, Zoe Fletcher and The Woolist are working “I MEASURE mY SUCCESS BY HO M NY LIVIN THINGS ARE BENEFITING F OM WHaT I AM DOING.” Miguel Santistevan
85 towards re-valuing the genetic heritage of native wool production in the United Kingdom. Fletcher has carefully documented and archived the types of wool (quality and colours) generated by the 72 different native breeds. She has teamed up with farmer Maria Benjamin to create The Wool Library, a platform to source fully traceable native wool. No other country in the world has as many pedigree sheep breeds as the UK, and this new platform enables designers to access a wide range of fleece beyond the main breeds.8 (see also interview with Zoe Fletcher and Maria Benjamin below) Another fashion industry player known for its commitment to natural genetic biodiversity is Italian luxury manufacturer and retailer Loro Piana, which has been part of LVMH since 2013. A specialist in using rare fibres such as cashmere, the company creates garments from the ultra-soft fleece of the vicuña, a relative of the llama in the Andes region of South America. The Incas considered the wool so luxurious that only royalty was allowed to wear it. By the late 1970s vicuñas were close to extinction due to an exodus of local shepherds who quit their rural existence to find better-paid work in cities.9 In the 1980s Loro Piana worked with the Peruvian government to create conservation programmes to save the few remaining wool farming communities. Its interest also ensured it was one of the few businesses allowed to buy the fleeces for commercial purposes. (British luxury brand Johnstons of Elgin has also worked on similar initiatives to protect its sources of vicuña fleece). The strategy has included keeping poachers at bay – a perennial problem for the small camelids. Vicuñas roam free across the high Andes. They are rounded up, typically every two years, so the small quantities of the precious fleece can be shorn. It takes 35 vicuña fleeces to make enough cloth for a (very expensive) overcoat. In the past some animals were killed to speed up the shearing process. Today, Loro Piana has encouraged indigenous farmers to shear and process the wool with sustainable, cruelty-free methods, thereby keeping local communities viable.10 The daily wages of workers on vicuña farms are four times higher than they were before the Italian firm’s involvement.11 Working on a much larger scale to preserve genetic diversity is Canopy, which is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations prioritising biodiversity and forest protection in the fight for greener design practices. Founded by Australian activist Nicole Ryecroft in 1999, Canopy has been campaigning to transform attitudes to sourcing and production. Including companies as varied as Asos, Alexander McQueen and LVMH, Canopy partners with over 750 brands throughout the fashion industry and beyond to create systemic change throughout the supply chain. Acknowledging that the actions of all people are needed to act together as a species on a planetary scale, Canopy prides itself on its collaborative approach to the biodiversity crisis. From policy development to supply chain innovation, it provides a practical framework for forward-thinking brands and companies. Protecting endangered forests is at the top of the organisation’s manifesto for innovative change, providing brands that purchase woodderived products like pulp, paper, packaging or viscose with regenerative alternatives. Our endangered forests and ecosystems play a vital and irreplaceable role in the conservation of the climate and biodiversity, which cannot be replicated by technology. Revealing the bleak future of forests, Canopy notes that in a typical year 3 billion trees are logged for packaging alone, while 150 million trees are cut down to make viscose for fashion apparel.
86 Paper packaging is widely regarded as a viable alternative to plastic, but it comes partly at the cost of valuable and endangered forests, says Canopy. This results in irreversible damage to biodiversity as forests that are industrially disturbed are fundamentally changed, particularly in terms of tree species and wildlife. With a dramatic loss of biodiversity, the extinction of threatened species is accelerated and people who call the forest home are displaced, their livelihoods damaged. Biodiversity, therefore, is central to the maintenance of our forests, and vice versa; the healthier the forest, the more carbon dioxide is absorbed, maintaining a climate in which people and planet can thrive. Alternatives to wood-based materials are becoming increasingly important, and Canopy provides several tools and resources to encourage brands to consider such options. As part of its CanopyStyle initiative, Canopy has generated a Hot Button Report in which fabric producers are ranked based on a number of factors: production capacity, completion of audits, conservation legacies, next generation solutions, sourcing policy, transparency, supply shifts, and chemical use and emissions. This list of factors provides an accessible profile through which brands and designers can assess the efforts their industry partners are making to proactively engage with innovative textile production.12 An equally important tool to help designers discover makers globally whose practices establish a harmonious, conscious relationship with nature and biodiversity is the Making Nature project. Revealed in the exhibition Gaining Ground: Learning from global craft practices, staged at the Crafts Council Gallery in London (April-June 2022), the project is led by Prananda Luffiansyah Malasan from the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, in collaboration with Nicholas Gant of the University of Brighton. It uses digital technology to map regenerative craft practices across Indonesia and the UK, connecting makers with a shared goal of promoting biodiversity through design. The project aims to elevate the importance of community craft practices and their contribution to bio-diverse methods and solutions to the climate crisis through collaborative knowledge-exchange.13 While there is still a lack of genetic biodiversity across agriculture and textiles, the work of Sally Fox, Loro Piana, Canopy, Making Nature and others represent an encouraging shift in how the fashion industry thinks about regenerative design processes. Their efforts are good examples of how collaboration is key to increasing biodiversity and combating the climate crisis. An ecosystem is only as strong as its most vulnerable members. Ethnobiologist and farmer Miguel Santistevan, who is based in Taos, New Mexico, has inspiring words for today’s biodiversity-conscious designer: “I measure my success by how many living things are benefiting from what I am doing.”14 86
87
88 HOLISTIC AG ICULTU E: Ho TO NURTURE THE ECOSYSTE Fashion design disrupts biodiversity through the growing of natural fibres, a process that typically involves the use of fertiliser chemicals, huge volumes of water and culls of livestock. By developing regenerative farming, the food chain remains intact while soil is replenished organically. Sheila Cooke, co-founder of Land and Livestock Management for Life (3LM), a member of the Savory Institute, discusses the benefits of conscious agriculture. Interview with Sheila Cooke by Alice May Stenson
89 I’ve always been keen on how humans evolve and I’d like all of humanity to learn how to take care of our earth and ecosystem processes. When we do that, we will all be healthy and happy, so I hope that people will continue learning and gaining an interest in this field. In nature, we have functional groups of animals, plants and microbes in the soil. When a group is missing, especially an apex predator, everything goes out of balance. As the human population grew, people wanted to control nature and they didn't understand the unintended consequences, so farmers killed off animals like the coyote, bear and wolf intentionally. That’s a reason for deer overpopulation, low life quality and an increase in deaths from starvation. By not sourcing regeneratively, we impact on the health of the planet. Plastic-based clothes can never be recycled. As we wash them, particles are going into the ocean and our waterways – 60 per cent of seabirds in the UK have been found with plastic in their stomach. Farmers use petrochemicals, nitrogen phosphorus or potassium, which disrupts all life in the soil – plants get very imbalanced nutrition. Ingested by livestock, it creates proteins that can grow incorrectly, leading to laminitis [a painful condition of the hoof] in sheep, infant mortality, conception problems and mastitis [udder inflammation]. There’s a chemical called glyphosate commonly used in farming for wheat desiccation. It remains legal to use in the EU despite being toxic to humans and animals. Transgenerational research on rats, conducted by Dr Zach Bush, suggests it leads to How did you become interested in holistic management? How are species affected by the practices of conventional farming?
90 forms of cancer, insomnia and obesity from malnutrition. It impacts genetic cell transcription and scares me far more than climate change. It means that conventional farming methods have the power to exterminate the human species and animal life on earth. How can species benefit from regenerative farming? What can designers do to help? “FAS HION ESIGN E S SHO ULD CO SID ER THE ST RTING PL aCE OF IB RE – IT IS MIN D OUT OF TH E S oIL.” Sheila Cooke In holistic management you learn to work with natural, non-harmful substances, which benefits the cellular animals, the bacteria and the soil. These have a symbiotic relationship with plants. With regenerative farming, you will put sheep into a paddock, but only for a short time – it might be [a few] days – but we use a grazing plan and move those sheep to the next paddock. So they’re getting fresh grass and the need for artificial wormers is greatly reduced. It’s helpful because they don't have any toxins ingested, and this has benefits across multi-species: so dung beetles will be quite healthy, then birds can eat those dung beetles and not get sick. What we very often see on holistically managed farms is that insect life returns and birds become abundant. But it requires more than just farmers – it requires everyone who’s buying the products that farmers are growing to become aware of this, be willing to buy it and use it. The more that we do that, and the less we use plastics in our clothing, the less we will harm animal life. Fashion designers should consider the starting place of fibre – it is mined out of the soil. In holistic management, there are three classifications of wealth: mineral, paper and solar. Mineral wealth is anything mined out of the soil, including petroleum-based polyester, fertilisers and insecticides that degrade the ground. Paper wealth is human labour and financial subsidiaries given to farmers. Solar wealth is everything naturally derived from the sun. What fashion designers can be interested in is helping farmers get 100 per cent of their wealth as solar wealth – it’s a reliable means to regenerate our planet without any unintended consequences. Since farmers control 70 per cent of land in the UK, this could be hugely influential. If designers started demanding that they want wool grown on natural, regenerative soil, it would transform market demand and have the potential to change agriculture overnight. 3lm.network
91 Photography: Maison/0
92
93 Photography: Maison/0
94 oo IB RY The Woolist is a designers’ toolkit created to help designers gain better insight into the rich and diverse history of British wool. Now, founder Zoe Fletcher has teamed up with Maria Benjamin, co-owner of Dodgson Wood Farm in the Lake District, on a new project, The Wool Library. It’s a platform for designers that helps them to source and develop fully traceable yarn and knitwear. Interview with Zoe Fletcher and Maria Benjamin by Eva Pramschuefer
95 Zoe: I was looking into what knitwear designers needed to know. Making a jumper out of a Herdwick wool yarn turns out to be very different to one made out of Shetland yarn. It’s about being able to compare and contrast these types of wool in an aesthetically pleasing way – while still being really useful on a commercial level. Maria: For me, I joined my partner John on his farm about eight years ago, and I wanted a little flock of my own sheep. That got me started in researching how each breed has its own history and its own unique qualities. Maria: Because the genetics are really important. When something goes extinct, there’s a loss and they are gone for good. Since the RBST (Rare Breeds Survival Trust) started in the 1970s, we haven’t lost any British breeds, but there were definitely lots lost before then. Zoe: Something that is dangerous as well is the reliance on one breed. Take for example the Australian Merino. Breeding ewes account for around 75 per cent of the Australian flock. If something happened to them – a disease or illness – then that’s a huge chunk of the farmers’ livelihood taken out. However, with the vast variety of sheep breeds kept within the UK, there’s more chance of finding a resistant strain, which could then be utilised to minimise flock loss. We’ve got a far more variable foundation to build back this integral agricultural infrastructure. Zoe: I wanted to make this knowledge accessible to a lot of different people, That’s why I started doing The Woolist, providing toolkits for designers. You can get How did you become interested in valuing the genetic diversity of sheep in the UK? Why is it important to support biodiversity of sheep breeding? How can the Woolist and The Wool Library help designers? 95
96 virtual ones, but I also created a physical toolkit where you can touch and feel the yarns. I analysed them under the microscope, so we can see the different scale structures, which affect how they react to the different dyes and washing methods. I think the versatility of creating this toolkit then naturally evolved into The Wool Library. It fits into a real-world scenario – we have proven that this adds value to a lot of different people, from the spinning mills through to the designers and the consumers. Zoe: Use more wool! Maria: We found it shocking when we talked to brands. We realised that so many high street brands endorse a fast fashion value system. Smaller designers that would like to work more ethically have struggled with the system because it is geared up for big producers. So there isn’t that support for designers that want to buy smaller quantities of breed-specific single-farm yarn. By giving them the option, the hope is that they see the value in what we can offer. What do you hope to achieve over the next decade? How can designers support the revival of breeds? What are you most proud of achieving in this field? “ ASHION IS AG ICUL URE – ND SO UCH OF TH aT HAS BEEN oST.” Zoe Fletcher Maria: I think that we’re part of our system, so I don’t think we can kind of take any credit. But I do see the prices have gone up for farmers and the wool board [British Wool] is changing how they work so that they can support businesses like us. That's actually pretty amazing. Zoe: And I think having that kind of visibility as well. People are coming to us now and wanting to talk through the opportunities. So they don’t just want to buy yarns, they want to know the story, they want to figure out how they can play a part in that journey as well. That’s really exciting. Maria: We want to be seen to be really supporting a lot of different designers and brands and we want to increase the value and understanding of British wool production. Zoe: Definitely. And also to be seen as facilitators for others as well. So it’s not just about growing our company, but being able to bring more people in on that journey. The reeducation is part of bringing designers in. Fashion is agriculture and I think so much of that has been lost. And yes, it takes a lot more work, but the rich variations that we could have just within this small little country can have such an impact on so many different people. Thewoollibrary.uk
97
98 Photography: Camille Lemoine
99
100 CH NGE- How to begin your journey towards regenerative design LET’S BE